The Ethics Committee of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has banned Super Eagles coach, Salisu Yusuf from all football-related activities for one year and fined him $5000 over allegations of bribery.
This followed an investigation by leading African investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, in which Yusuf was caught on tape receiving a bribe to invite two players to the Nigerian national team.
According to the video released by BBC African Eye, some reporters posing as football agents in September 2017 offered bribe to Yusuf in exchange for him to invite two players for the African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Morocco.
Although the names of the players were not disclosed, the investigative team led by Anas said they were invited to the team.
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But Yusuf maintained that he did nothing wrong and insisted that he got only $750 dollars instead of $1,000 claimed by Anas’s team.
Yusuf further said that the money did not influence his player selection.
In the 3.37-minute video, he could also be seen telling the “football agents” that team selection was based on performance alone.
He said, “You see in football, it (team selection) is by your consistency and form.”
In a subsequent statement issued to the BBC, Yusuf further denied any wrongdoing, saying he neither promised nor committed to selecting players for games.
He added that he never asked the “football agents” for money; it was offered to him.
Yusuf was subsequently invited and appeared before the NFF Ethics Committee in Abuja on Thursday.
An NFF statement said Yusuf, who has denied any wrongdoing, was banned from “all football-related activities at both national and international level”.
The statement noted that Yusuf could appeal to the NFF Appeals Committee if dissatisfied with the sanction imposed by the NFF Ethics Committee.